Friday 13 May 2011

Nothing much has changed on my patch since yesterdays visit, although the wind had dropped a bit allowing me to find some butterfies to photograph :-)

I found both COOTS today on the ornamental lake, the first time i've seen them both together for some weeks, I wonder if it means their eggs have hatched or maybe they have failed altogether? Two GREYLAG GEESE and four CANADA GEESE were on the main lake, plus 4 MALLARD, one pair had some newly hatched young, a MOORHEN also had a newly hatched chick with it, but there was no sign of any Mandarin chicks today, there are lots of places for them to hide though!

CUCKOO, BLACKCAP, CHIFFCHAFF and WHITETHROAT were heard in the adjacent Scrubby Woods, along with the SONGTHRUSH, DUNNOCK, BLACKBIRD, CHAFFINCH and ROBIN, the latter have started to sing much more frequently again :-) I didn't hear the Lesser Whitethroat today, but it may still be around. A pair of BULLFINCH'S gave me some good views, but just not near enough for the camera.

Speckled Wood, Small and Large Whites, plus the Green Veined White were the only butterflies seen in the Woods, and the only Damselfly was an Azure.

I left after an hour for a skywatch and butterfly hunt over at the Tree Nursery, the Sky watch was good for raptors, with BUZZARD, SPARROWHAWK, and KESTREL all being seen, a HERRING GULL went over and the local SWALLOWS were zipping about, but they were the most notable happenings.

My butterfly hunt was a successful one, I found; Small Copper, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Common Blue and Brown Argus, the common blue were very abundant, with ones and twos coming up from the long grass every couple of paces, i'll miss this place when it all goes back to farmland :-(

I got a few photo's of the flutters, what good subjects they make ! Click on photo's to enlarge them :-)


Above/Below Red Admiral









Above/Below Male Common Blue




I think these top two are female Common Blues, the one below them may be a Brown Argus, it's difficult to tell the two apart unless you see the underside of the forewing, Edit : Thanks Greenie, he has Identified all three as Brown Argus














Below is the Small Copper




Lastly, the only Damselfly of the day - An Azure Blue




12 comments:

Bob Bushell said...

Brilliant shots of the butterflies Warren.

Warren Baker said...

Thanks Bob :-)

Greenie said...

Warren ,
All three butterflies betweem the male Common Blues and the Small Copper are male Brown Argus .
How did you manage to publish tonight ? I drafted a post last night but have been unable to publish it since . Bloogger has been down most of the day , and when I tried to publish yesterday's post this evening , the draft has disappeared . Before drafting today's post , I tried to post a trial version , and that was impossible too .
Have you realised that your post from yesterday has disappeared too ?
Added to that , Kos Publishing of Sellindge have been downloading more photos without any permission , is it all worth it ?

Warren Baker said...

Thanks for the ID's Greenie :-)

The blogger service is slowly restoring the system, and hopefully thursdays posts!

Hassellinge publishing got a website ? Need to send them a threatening e-mail ! Theiving lazy tossers!!!

Jason K said...

Stunning Argus photos Warren...they are def one of my fave flutters!

ShySongbird said...

Blogger has been a huge pain today! Hence my not commenting on your Thursday post, I haven't even seen it :( From what I can see everyone's Thursday post has disappeared!!

Anyway, this is a lovely post Warren, really colourful with all the flutters. I think the Red Admiral is a stunning butterfly, I haven't managed to photograph one yet this year.

Warren Baker said...

Songbird,
Thursdays posts are going to being restored, so I read!

I hope you get the Red admiral to photograph soon, i'm sure there is one out there waiting for you :-)

Derek Faulkner said...

Warren,
You're not alone re. your Coots nesting. Here on The Swale NNR nesting pairs are down by over two thirds for no apparent reason and of five nests that I've found, crows have robbed three.
Lapwings and Redshanks are also having a really poor breeding season both on The Swale and at Elmley and once again nothing sticks out as a major reason, apart from a degree of dryness.

Marc Heath said...

Some great shots there. I think i might have a butterfly weekend, if the weather allows!!

Alan Pavey said...

Some lovely pics again Warren, a great selection of Butterflies. In answer to your comment on my blog which is missing as I write this, it is a bit quiet at the moment and certainly a lot of the birds here are busy feeding.

Unknown said...

Stunning shots of the Brown Argus. Just realised I've named mine a Brown Angus, must the the Scottish variant ;-)

Kelly said...

I love how your oranges pop on your butterflies. They are so pretty and vibrant!